Carry On
by Rainbowbutterflyninjas101
Summary: Waitress by day, hunter by night. Despite the dangerous double life she led, Sage Emerson thought she had it all balanced. That is until the Winchester boys showed up at her cafe and threw her off course. Set early Season 1.
1. Chapter 1

"Order of fries for table number 5!"

"Table number 5, got it!" Sage Emerson adjusted her dirty blonde ponytail and then picked up the tray of fries that her mother had slid out to her from a window in the kitchen. She balanced the tray with one hand and sashayed on over towards the proclaimed table number 5.

"Here you go. Enjoy." She smiled as she set the tray down and was met with a gruff thanks from the old man who occupied the table. She kept her smile as she nodded at him and then started heading towards the next table, though she briefly paused as she passed by the calender- which still read that it was November 2005.

Sighing, she rolled her eyes and approached the calender then flipped the page so that it read that it was now December. She seemed satisfied with this and nodded to herself before hurrying on towards the next table before she got in trouble for standing around idle too long.

The bell rang as two new customers entered. One was taller, with hunching shoulders and shaggy hair. The other was a bit shorter- but both were undeniably handsome. Nobody seemed to notice their presence though, as they continued about with their daily lives: Talking, reading the paper, skimming over the menu. The hustle and bustle masked the two newcomer's entrance almost completely, though they didn't mind that a bit.

"Man..I'm beat." The shorter one stated as he took a seat and picked up a menu. "Hey, you think they have good pie here? I'm not talking the frozen crap either. I want some pure, old-fashioned, home-made, honest-to-goodness apple pie. Is that so much to ask for?"

The taller set his laptop bag down on the table and began fiddling with unzipping it and pulling out the laptop that was inside but he seemed amused at what the other was saying. A small dimpled grin glazed his features as he slid out the laptop and then flipped it open. "I don't know, Dean. Why don't you ask someone who works here?"

Dean scoffs. "Maybe I will."

"Go ahead, I'm waiting." They both jumped at the sound of a new voice, before looking slightly embarrassed as Sage just smirked at them while she tapped her pen against her notepad. "Well? Did you end up biting off your tongues?"

"No, we-..No." Dean cleared his throat as he looked her over. She wasn't super hot or anything, no, her features were just rather...homely. She was freckle-faced, didn't wear a lot of makeup- maybe just a little mascara. Her eyes were green and her hair was to her mid-back even with it up in a loose ponytail. That's not to say she was ugly- she definitely had very pretty features even naturally. But she just wasn't Dean's type.

"Oh good. In that case, what can I get ya to drink?" She raised her eyebrows at them, tapping her jaw with the pen.

"Just a beer please." Dean says, laying down his menu before looking over at his brother. "Sam?"

Sam was still staring at Sage, mouth open as if to say something but no words leaving it. Hearing his brother, he snapped back to attention and blinked a couple times. "Uh..water. Just..just water." he smiled awkwardly as he looked back down at his laptop, swallowing hard.

"Great. Okay, I'll have it out to ya in no time." Sage closed her notepad as she walked away.

Dean watched her go for a moment before looking back at Sam, who was still watching her, with a knowing look. "You should probably close your mouth dude. You're gonna catch flies."

Sam shot a glare at his older brother before reaching over and grabbing a menu and then pretending to be interested in it. "Wow. I think I might actually go for a burger. They look really good here."

"You could just ask her number you know."

Sam closed his eyes in agitation as he set the menu back down. "Dean.."

"What? It's clear you've got the hots for the waitress man. Go for it. Live a little! It's better than you moping around all the time. I wouldn't mind going out for a bit, you know, giving you some privacy.."

Sam sighed, now looking back at his laptop. "I don't have time for a love life, Dean. Or..or any of that stuff. Besides, I just lost Jess and.." he trailed off as she came to mind. Oh Jess. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get her off of his mind. His chest still ached everytime he even thought of her. Time is said to heal all wounds but already a month had passed and he missed her just as much as the day after he'd lost her.

Dean seemed to read his brother and now it was his turn to sigh in defeat. "Alright. I get it. It's fine. Anyway..got any leads on dad?"

Sam looked at him dubiously, lightening up a little. "No, actually. But.. I did get a call from Bobby."

Dean looked surprised for a moment. "Bobby? As in..Bobby Singer? As in, the same guy who threatened to light dad's ass up with rocksalt if he ever showed up again Bobby?"

Sam started to nod, "Yeah, that's the-"

"Bobby? You two know Bobby Singer?" Sage set their drinks down in front of them. Dean raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Sam and then looked back up at Sage.

"Yeah..unless we're talking about different Bobby Singers."

Sage sighed. "There's only one Bobby Singer. Sort of gruff, has a piss-poor attitude from Hell and wears a trucker's cap?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah..how do you know him?"

Sage looked between them both, her eyes suddenly widening with realization. "You're hunters aren't you?"

"Deer hunters?" Dean started to chuckle as he sat back, playing it off completely. "Yeah, guess you could say that. You see, Sammy and I here have been-"

"Yes. We're hunters. We hunt ghosts, Wendigos, anything you can think of that goes bump in the night." Sam said quietly, looking Sage directly in the eye.

Dean's eyes widened and he suddenly looked a little frantic. He smiled widely, laughing sheepishly as he leaned forward a bit. "I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse my brother." He apologizes, shooting Sam a glare before looking up at Sage again. "He hasn't been taking his meds recently.."

Sage sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Okay. Look, my shift ends in 5 minutes. How about you two meet me out back?"

Sam nodded but Dean seemed hesitant. "Look, uh-" but before he could finish, Sage had already walked off. "Hey! I didn't even get the chance to order yet!"


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell man?!" Dean was pacing back and forth. The brothers had gone outside to wait for Sage as she had told them to and were now standing in some creepy back alley outside of the cafe. Sam rubbed his hands together to get some warmth into them as he tried to ignore his brother's obnoxious pacing.

"I can't believe I'm standing out here freezing my ass off in some alley just to facilitate for you to get laid. Ugh, the things I do for you." Sam rolls his eyes, crinkling his nose a bit as it had started to go numb from the cold.

Dean stopped pacing for a moment, now making eye contact with his brother. "And what the hell was that about in there huh? What possessed you into blabbing about hunting? "Oh we hunt ghosts and Wendigos, we're like super heros! Please have sex with me!"." Dean mocked his brother in an over-exhaggerated desperate tone. "That's not how you get a girl Sam, that's how you land time in Cuckoo's nest!"

Sam sighed heavily. "Dean, I'm not trying to get into her pants. She said she knew Bobby. And if she knows Bobby, there's a likely chance she knows more than that and if she's a hunter, maybe we could- I don't know- form an alliance or something."

"An alliance? Dad's told us before. We have each other, and that's it. Besides, we've got-"

"Who?" Sam interrupts him. "Who do we have? A missing father?"

"Sam.." Dean's tone takes a stern edge, warning him that he was starting to push it.

But Sam only continued. "What about all the hunters we used to see all the time that dad eventually pissed off? Pastor Jim? Caleb? Hell, I was surprised Bobby even decided to pick the phone and-"

"Alright that's enough out of you okay?!" Dean grabbed the collar of his shirt. The tension was so thick as the boys glared at each other, you could practically cut into it with a knife.

"Am I...interrupting something?" Sage stood a couple feet away now, looking at them both with raised eyebrows. Dean glanced over at her, expression softening for a moment, before he finally released Sam's collar and his younger brother took a step back though he cast one last glare at him.

"Not at all." Dean says, faking casualty as he smiled slightly. "So. How do you know Bobby?"

"You boys might want to have a seat. This one's a doozy." Dean glances at Sam who shrugs.

"Right..and where should we sit? In the dumpster or on one of these loose bricks?" Dean asks as he looked down and kicked a loose brick that was near his foot.

Sage stared at him a moment before rolling her eyes. "It's a figure of speech, smartass. Anyway..back to how I know Singer." She took a deep breath. "About 6 years ago, when I was 15, I witnessed...something. My dad..my dad was..eating..my sister. Literally. And um-" she scratched at her arm, clearly uncomfortable even talking about it. Sam's brows furrowed in that sympathetic way they did as he listened.

"-I ran. Then the next morning..he shot himself. With a silver bullet." she spaced out for a moment as she recalled that day. She still remembered the sirens, the fear, the wishing it had all been some nightmare. But it wasn't. And her perfect little suburban family would never be the same again. _She_ would never be the same again. "It was a lot on me. I was still pretty much just a kid, you know? I tried telling everyone what I had seen but everyone just thought it was the trauma over losing them in such awful ways. They said that my sister must've just been caught by some wild animal and my dad couldn't take what he'd seen. I'd never felt more alone then I had then."

"So then..one day..I went to pray. I've never really been religious or anything but it just seemed like the right time. And..that's how I met Pastor Jim."

Sam glanced at Dean who sent him back a look. "Pastor Jim, huh? He used to be pretty good friends with our dad, even took care of Dean and I a couple times when we were little. But uh..please, go on."

"Yeah..he's a good man. He asked me why I was crying and I told him everything- the truth, thinking that even if he thought I was crazy, I could just let it all out anyway and have some assurance that at least someone was listening. But he had a different reaction than everyone else. He comforted me and then asked me if I really wanted to know. And of course, I did. He told me about it all. The supernatural, hunters, everything. I wanted to learn more- be a hunter. He tried warning me that it was a bad idea but now that I knew what was out there, I wanted to be able to protect the family I had left."

"So he introduced you to Bobby." Dean asserted.

Sage nodded. "Yeah, said he was one of the best in the business. At first, he thought John Winchester would be a good option but he already had two boys around my age..which must be..you." she said slowly, suddenly realizing. "So, you're them then huh?"

Sam chuckled, nodding a little. "Yeah..yeah, that's us. If you've known Bobby 6 years though, I'm surprised we haven't crossed paths sooner." He crossed his arms.

"Well, about that, I'd only visit Bobby from time to time and he'd teach me about the lore at first. I was still in High School and helping out here at the diner. Like hell if I was going to tell my mom what I'm doing on the side. I didn't even go on any hunts first hand until I was 18. I just now started doing my own a few months ago."

"So wait, you mean to tell me your mom doesn't know you've been ganking boogeymen for the last few years?" Dean asks, a little sternly.

"Oh yeah, how do you think that conversation would go? She'd probably lock me up in my room for the rest of my life. And besides, I'd rather she not know anyway..about what's out there. It's better that way. I'll keep her safe, and she gets to go on living her life as usual. It's a win-win for me."

Dean glanced at Sam. Well doesn't that sound familiar..

"And there's another reason I asked you both to meet me out here." Sage said, looking between the both of them.

"Yeah? And what's that? Because neither me or my brother want anything unless you're paying sweetheart." Dean smirked a little.

Sage and Sam shot a look at him at the same time. Sam looked mortified while Sage looked confused and somewhat amused.

"What? No, no- nothing like that. Geeze. I want to go on a case with you."


End file.
